August 31st.—Went on Tuesday to Woodstock; very pretty place, and in admirable trim. Weather changing, and I fear I shall see Killarney in rain and cold.
Viceregal Lodge, September 6th.—Went to Muckrosson Thursday last; passed three days there in exquisite enjoyment of the beautiful scenery of Killarney; weather was perfect, and I went over and round all the lakes; returned here on Monday, and went yesterday to the Curragh.
Jervaulx Abbey, Sunday, September 11th.—Crossed over from Kingstown to Holyhead on Thursday last; beautiful passage. Passed the last day, Wednesday, in Dublin with William Fitzgerald seeing the town. He took me over the old Leinster House, now the Royal Institution, and then to the Bank to see the old House of Lords; a fine room, exactly as it was, and what was the House of Commons, now completely altered and not retaining a vestige of the famous locality where Flood and Grattan and Plunket once shook the walls with their eloquence. I left Ireland with regret, for I spent several very happy days there, interested and amused even more than I expected, and treated with great kindness and hospitality. Went from Holyhead to Manchester, and on to Worsley to sleep; came here on Friday. The old Abbey is very picturesque, and very perfect as a ruin. It reminds me, place and all, of Bolton Abbey.
London, September 26th.—I stayed three days at Jervaulx, then to Doncaster, Bretby, and to town. All the Ministers in London, having passed their lives during the last fortnight in the railway or in Cabinets, which have been very numerous, as well they may, for they have plenty to occupy them in the Italian, Chinese, and American questions, all, in their several ways and degrees, extremely embarrassing. I have not the slightest conception what our Government are doing about the Italian question, but I suppose trying to keep well with Napoleon III., and to obtain good terms for the Italian Duchies. At present it looks as if a Congress would be got together to untie this complicated knot, but I fear we are not likely to play in it a part which will be consistent with our principles, or creditable to our national character, and I wish we could abstain from having anything to do with it. The incident about the American Boundary is awkward, but I feel confident it will be amicably settled.
DISPUTES WITH CHINA.
The Chinese affair is the most serious, and one can see no solution of it that is not full of objections and embarrassments.[1] In the first place it looks at present very much as if our case was a bad one. We had no business to go with an armament and force our way up the river, and even if we were upon any ground justified in such an extreme measure, it was to the last degree impolitic and unwise to exercise such a right. The object for which Bruce was sent to China was to conclude a peace, and to establish amicable relations with the Chinese Government, and it might have occurred to him that the employment of force, even if it was ever so successful, must infallibly defeat his object. It required no great sagacity to perceive that the arrival at Pekin of a victorious Ambassador, who had forced his way to the capital at the head of an imposing force, would not serve to make his reception a friendly one, or to establish permanent harmonious relations between the English and the Chinese Governments. As long as there was a possibility of procuring access to Pekin by peaceful means and by negotiation, it would have been better to be patient and to wait any time than to employ force; and besides the political objections that seem conclusive against the adoption of such a course, it seems highly probable that no such force as that which we employed on this occasion could have been pushed on into the heart of the country without imminent danger of its being cut off and eventually destroyed. The mere fact of destroying again the Peiho forts would be deemed by the Chinese as the renewal of the war, and the perpetrator of the outrage would not have been received in the sacred character of an Ambassador, but would have been looked on as an invader, and treated accordingly. This is the first view of the question which presents itself. Then comes that of vindicating our honour, and retrieving the disaster we have suffered, which involves the necessity of rushing into war again and scattering havoc and desolation through the country, massacring thousands of people who can make no effectual resistance to our power, and making territorial conquests, which will only embarrass us, and which we shall have more difficulty in getting rid of than we shall have in making their acquisition. In short, we are going to be engaged in a contest in which failure will be disgraceful, and success will be inconvenient, and to place additional obstacles in the way of that good understanding which it is so much our interest to establish with China. Nor are our difficulties diminished by the fact of being connected with, and therefore more or less dependent on the French, and in a less degree with the Russians and the Americans in this unfortunate contest. This local and accidental alliance impairs our freedom of action, and of necessity introduces delays and complications of all sorts into the affair.
[1] [Mr. Bruce having been detained in his mission to Pekin, which was of a pacific character, Admiral Hope made an attempt to force the passage by reducing the forts at the mouth of the Peiho. The attack failed, with a loss of nearly 400 men killed and wounded in the storming party and the gunboats. The 'Plover' and 'Lee' gunboats grounded, and the 'Cormorant' was so damaged by the enemy's fire that she sank soon afterwards. The whole proceeding was injudicious and disastrous.]
October 19th.—Nearly a month and nothing to record, besides the events of the day, of which I know nothing more than the newspapers report. I only take up my pen now because Clarendon called on me, and it is worth while to recollect the little he told me during a very short visit. I had not seen him since his visit to Osborne in the summer, and he began by giving me an account of it. The Queen was delighted to have him with her again and to have a good long confidential talk with him, for it seems she finds less satisfaction in her intercourse with either Palmerston or Lord John. The relations of these two are now most intimate and complete, and Palmerston has obtained an entire influence and authority over Lord John, who only sees with his eyes and without any contest submits to be entirely guided and controlled by Palmerston. The jeu of the thing is rather amusing. Palmerston, who is thoroughly versed in foreign affairs (while Lord John knows very little about them), in every important case suggests to Lord John what to do. Lord John brings it before the Cabinet as his own idea, and then Palmerston supports him, as if the case was new to him.
But to return to the Queen and Clarendon. He was unfortunately attacked by gout and confined to his room. He was sitting there with Lady Clarendon, when Lady Gainsborough came in and told him that she was desired by the Queen to beg he would if possible move into the next room (the Lady-in-waiting's room) and establish himself there; that the Queen would come in, when all the ladies present were to go away and leave her t�te-�-t�te with him. All this was done, and she remained there an hour and a half, talking over everything, pouring all her confidences into his ears, and asking for his advice about everything. He said he had endeavoured to do as much good as he could by smoothing down her irritation about things she did not like. As an example, he mentioned that while the Prince was with him a box was brought in with a despatch from Lord John, which the Prince was to read. He did so with strong marks of displeasure, and then read it to Clarendon, saying they could not approve it, and must return it to Lord John. Clarendon begged him not to do this, that it was not the way to deal with him, and it would be better to see what it contained that really was good and proper, and to suggest emendations as to the rest. He persuaded the Prince to do this, advised him what to say, and in the end Lord John adopted all the suggestions they had made to him. On another occasion the Queen had received a very touching letter from the Duchess of Parma imploring her protection and good offices, which she sent to Lord John desiring he would write an answer for her to make to it. He sent a very short, cold answer, which the Queen would not send. She asked Clarendon to write a suitable one for her, which he did, but insisted that she should send it to Lord John as her own. She did so, Lord John approved, and so this matter was settled.